Brukkaros Mountain

Brukkaros rises about six hundred and fifty metres above the plains north of Keetmanshoop, a near-circular structure formed around eighty million years ago when rising magma met groundwater and blew out a crater, later eroded into the shape it has now. A track climbs partway up the outer slope and a footpath continues into the crater, which is wide and floored with scrub. A solar observatory ran near the rim from 1926 to 1931 and its ruins remain.

History

The Nama call the mountain Geitsi Gubib, after the long leather apron worn by Khoikhoi women, known in Afrikaans as broek-en-karos, which became the German Brukkaros. From 1926 to 1931 the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Institution ran a solar observatory on the mountain to measure daily solar radiation (Wikipedia, Brukkaros Mountain).

The landscape

• The crater - a wide bowl walked into from the outer slope.
• The rim walk - a path around the edge with views over the southern plains.
• The observatory ruins - a solar station of 1926-1931 near the rim.
• The plains - open southern country running away in all directions.

When to go

March to October is the cooler window. Summer heat on the bare rock is severe and the climb is dangerous then. Early morning is the only sensible start.

Things to know

The track up is rough and the last stretch is walked; the climb takes two to three hours return. There is no water, no shade and no facilities. A community fee is collected at the village below.

Nearby

Keetmanshoop is south, and the Mesosaurus site is southeast.

Key facts